April Fools Nightmare
by Peggy Schultz
Summary: Nick thinks Greg is playing an April fools day prank. Is it a prank or is Greg's life in real danger? Updated 7-20-10
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: CSI belongs to CBS. The story belongs to me. I am not making any money from this. :(

Title: April Fools Nightmare

Author: Peggy Schultz

Rating: R (for Violence and possible adult themes)

Timeline: Mid 4th season

Spoilers: "Stalker" and possible spoilers for all episodes up to the mid fourth season.

Pairing: Greg/OFC and eventual Nick/Greg

Summary: Nick thinks Greg is playing an April fools day prank. Is it a prank or is his life in real danger?

Prologue

Nick Stokes sat on a bench in the locker room of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. He was directly in front of his open locker. He yawned as Warrick Brown entered the room. "Hey," he nodded to the taller man.

"Hey," Warrick said, "you alright? You look tired man." Nick watched as he opened his own locker.

"Yeah, I'm tired. I couldn't sleep this morning after I went to breakfast with Greg," Nick told him.

"Really," Warrick grinned. "Did you finally tell him you like him and then take him back to your place for a day of...."

"Very funny man," Nick glanced toward the door to make sure no one was standing near by to overhear. "Nah, Greg is still talking about Lisa."

"Man, you don't even believe she really exists anyway, why don't you just ask him out on an actual date instead of to breakfast?"

"Right and have him never speak to me again," Nick sighed.

"You really need to give him more credit Nick. He's seemingly open to anything, I don't think he would let it ruin your friendship," Warrick assured him. "Did you find out why he was so nervous and jumpy last night," Warrick changed his shoes in front of his own locker.

"Yeah, he's a good actor. He missed his calling, he should have studied drama instead of science," Nick sighed.

"What do you mean," Warrick looked at the younger man curiously.

"It was all just a very bad April fool's day prank," Nick replied running his hand through his short hair.

Warrick glanced at his watch. "You're kidding, its not even April first for another four minutes yet."

"Well he has tonight off, so I guess he decided to start the prank early. I'm not sure," Nick told him with a shrug of his shoulders.

"So was it the fact you fell for his prank that kept you awake or the prank itself?"

"I didn't fall for it. As soon as he started asking me questions I figured out that he was leading to a prank. It was a prank in very bad taste too," Nick admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck. "He was asking me about Nigel Crane. He said that his supposed girlfriend Lisa told him she saw her ex-boyfriend in Vegas and she warned him to be careful. Apparently her ex had tried to kill her before and gets very jealous of her seeing other men. Greg said he saw a car following him. He had the nerve to ask me if stalkers normally follow the people they're stalking without even trying to make it look like they're not following them. Can you believe him?"

"That's quite a story man, are you sure it was a prank? He was very jumpy and anxious last night. I even heard him asking Grissom and Ecklie if there was any overtime available for him. He sounded as if he did not want to go home. He told Grissom that he could really use the extra money, but I didn't buy it. After Grissom and Ecklie refused the overtime he started looking for someone to go to breakfast with him, before he spoke to you he had even asked Hodges," Warrick said.

"Nah man, he practically admitted it to me. I told him that if he's playing some kind of April fools day prank that it was very inappropriate after my encounter with Crane. He looked horrified, I don't think he even thought about what happened to me when he planned the prank or he didn't think it would bother me. He apologized to me and said he shouldn't have said anything," Nick shrugged again.

"Are you sure he wasn't 'horrified' that he reminded you of the Nigel Crane incident and not because it was a prank? Think about it man, his pranks are usually not that extensive," Warrick said.

"I'll call him later and make sure he's ok," Nick sighed. What Warrick said made sense, but he didn't think it was true. He had been certain that Greg had made up having a girlfriend named Lisa, and if he had made her up the story must have been made up too. He couldn't help but wonder if his willingness to believe it was a prank was based on the fact he didn't want to be wrong about suspecting Greg made Lisa up.

To Be Continued...


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Greg yawned as he sat in the Laundromat drinking lukewarm coffee and pretending that his clothes hadn't finished drying fifteen minutes ago. After he left the diner he and Nick had gone to, Greg had gone back to his apartment. As he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex, he saw the car that his girlfriend had warned him about sitting in the back of the parking lot. It was the same car that had followed him that he had told Nick about. Before he got too far into the lot, he had quickly backed out of the parking lot and quickly left.

He drove aimlessly around for about an hour before, he felt certain that the car was not following him. He had then decided to go shopping at the mall where he had purchased some new clothes, since he had no intention of going back to his apartment anytime soon and wandered through nearly every store twice before deciding to leave. He had then gone grocery shopping and bought a case of bottled water, a six pack of soda, some premade sandwiches, ice, and a cooler after walking around the store looking at everything whether he wanted to buy them one day or not.

After wasting the entire day wandering around various Las Vegas establishments Greg was now sitting in a Laundromat wondering where he could go for the night.

"Sir," an older woman said standing in front of him. "Are those your clothes in the dryer over there?"

"Uh, yeah," Greg nodded with a glance at the dryer she pointed to.

"Your clothes are done sir, and I need to close the Laundromat now. We will open again tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock," she told him.

"Thanks, I was lost in thought. I will get my things now," Greg assured her as he stood up. He glanced at the clock on the wall as he stood up and noticed it was 2 a.m. already. He had been awake for over 24 hours and he had not gotten much sleep before that. He took his new clothes out of the dryer, placed them in the shopping bag, and left. He was still unsure of where to go next, but he knew that he had to get some sleep but he couldn't go home.

After getting into his car and driving around again, he eventually ended up at a beautiful secluded section near the desert with a view of Vegas in the distance. Since it was a warm night, he decided to park there and go to sleep before he fell asleep driving. He parked his car behind the cover of trees to make certain that his vehicle wasn't visible from the road and moved to the back seat of his car after locking the doors. He fell asleep seconds later.

* * *

"Damn it," Nick complained as he flipped his cell phone closed. "He's still not answering his phone."

"Did you try his house phone and his cell phone?" Warrick asked as he dusted for finger prints at their crime scene.

"Yes, I tried both. I also left several messages on both. You don't think that anything is wrong do you?" Nick asked finally giving into the voice in the back of his mind that agreed with Warrick. The voice had taunted him all night saying what if Greg was not playing a prank?

"It's his night off, he's probably out at a club partying or what ever it is he does on his nights off. Or maybe he's sleeping," Warrick suggested.

"Yeah I know, I just wanted to make sure that he was alright," Nick said.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's probably just out having fun, dancing and head banging to that crazy music of his," Warrick told him; although, he was somewhat worried himself. "You know we are about finished here, why don't we stop by Greg's apartment and check on him," Warrick suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I lent him a DVD last week, we can stop over and tell him that we stopped by to pick up the DVD," Nick told him.

"We could do that, but I also think that telling him we stopped by to make sure he was alright, since he wasn't answering his phones, would work," Warrick shrugged his shoulders.

Twenty-five minutes later Warrick pulled the SUV into the parking lot of Greg's apartment complex. "His car isn't here," he commented looking over the cars in the parking lot.

"Maybe he is out clubbing," Nick said. He would, however, feel better if he could see or speak with Greg to make certain that he was alright.

"Yeah, well we better get back to the lab," Warrick said.

* * *

_Nick pounded on Greg's door as Grissom and Warrick caught up to him and stood behind him. Greg had not come into work for the second night in a row without calling off and was not answering his phones. Nick and Warrick had decided that they would tell Grissom about Nick's conversation with Greg. Nick had a very bad feeling that something terrible had happened. They were now outside the lab tech's apartment hoping Greg's absence at work had nothing to do with his stalker. Detective Jim Brass was currently checking the hospital's for any John Doe's matching Greg's description. "He's not answering," Nick told them as he began to slam his body weight into the door until he was finally able to force his way into the apartment. He ignored the pain in his shoulder from breaking in._

"_Greg!" Warrick and Nick yelled as they both rushed into the apartment. _

_Through the dim light of a lamp on top of an end table beside the black leather couch, the living room appeared to look just as it had the last time Nick had been there to play video games. It was just as neat and organized as always, but uncharacteristically quiet. He immediately noted that the kitchen lights were on and quickly headed in that direction. "Greg, are you here?" he called out._

_As he entered the kitchen he stopped in the door way and said "No," as he saw his friend lying on the white tiled floor of the kitchen. A puddle of dried blood surrounded the motionless body of his friend. "No," Nick repeated shaking his head as Warrick and Grissom rushed past him. He could only watch as Grissom knelt down beside Greg's obviously lifeless body. _

"_Looks like he was shot at least twice in the head," Warrick said as he began to take pictures of the body of their friend as if it was any other crime scene. _

"_This is CSI Grissom," the oldest CSI spoke into his cell phone. "We have a 419 at...."_

_Nick closed his eyes. He couldn't believe this, Greg was dead. He was now their crime scene and Grissom and Warrick were acting as if it was a stranger's body they found in the kitchen. "No," Nick said, "this can't be happening. It was just a prank. He admitted to me that it was just a prank." Tears welled in his closed eyes. He didn't want to look at his friend's body any more, but he could not turn away._

_Warrick looked up at Nick anger gleaming in his dark eyes. "This is your fault; he trusted you and you threw that trust in his face by assuming that he made up the stalker. You didn't even believe that he could possibly have a girlfriend. What kind of friend has so little faith in his friends? You killed him, Nick. If you would have told him to go to Grissom for help instead of making him feel bad for causing you to think of your experience with your own stalker we could have protected him. We could have saved him, instead of burying him. This is your fault, all your fault."_

Nick awoke suddenly to the sound of his cell phone ringing on the night stand beside his bed. His breath came out in harsh pants as he reached for his phone and fought to calm down after the nightmare. His hands shook as he picked up the device and flipped it open. "Stokes," he spoke into the phone trying to sound normal.

"Nick, it's Greg," the lab tech paused. "I just checked my messages and saw that you left me four messages. Is everything alright? Grissom didn't need me to come in did he?"

"Nah, I was just thinking about what you said about the stalker. I thought that maybe... you know... I just wanted to make sure that you were alright," Nick stammered. His hands were still shaking somewhat, but his breathing and heartbeat were begging to settle down as he spoke to the cause of anxiety.

"I'm fine. I... I was just sleeping. I had my cell phone turned off since I wasn't on call," Greg assured him.

"Oh," was all Nick said.

"Are you alright," Greg asked concern evident in his voice. "You sound like you were just running a marathon."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was asleep. I left the phone in the living room, and had to hurry to get it before it stopped ringing," Nick lied. He didn't want to tell Greg that he had a nightmare for fear Greg would want to know what he had dreamt about.

"Alright," Greg paused. "You sure you're alright?"

"I'm sure. Greg, if something was wrong you would tell me right? I mean, my reaction to your prank didn't make you afraid to tell me if something was really wrong, did it?" Nick wanted to make sure that the younger man knew he could still confide in him, despite what had happened at the diner.

"No. I know I can talk to you," Greg sighed. "Nick, what I said at the diner, I shouldn't have told you, it was wrong of me to tell you that. I'm fine though, you don't need to worry about me. Well, I have some errands to run, so I will let you get back to sleep. I'll see you tonight at work," he told him.

"Yeah, see you later. Bye," Nick flipped his cell phone shut and closed his eyes squeezing the device tightly in his hand. He took a deep breath to try to convince his still rapidly beating heart that the lab tech was fine and it was just a dream. However, he had a nagging feeling that the younger man was not entirely truthful about being fine. He had noticed that Greg had said he shouldn't have told him. He didn't say that he shouldn't have made up a prank like that after what Nick had been through, or something similar. The spark of doubt had been ignited into an inferno of concern for his friend. He vowed that he would keep a close eye on the lab tech to make sure he was indeed 'fine'.

To Be Continued...


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Three days, Greg thought as he groggily made his way into the crime lab an hour before the start of his shift. He had been staying in the secluded area he had found near the desert for three days. He came into work early to take a shower before his shift started. He could only hope that the shower would help to wake him up since he had not been sleeping very well. His car was not the most comfortable place to sleep and he had become paranoid that he had been followed despite his efforts to make certain no one had followed him. He had even started to check every inch of the outside of his car for any tracking devices that may have been put on it in an attempt to track him from work.

He knew he was being paranoid. It was most likely a coincidence that he kept seeing a vintage blue Lincoln Continental, the same type of vehicle that his girlfriend had warned him about, following him around town. And that the same car was often parked in parking lots at coffee shops, and stores that he frequents as if the person knew his routine was another coincidence. He was beginning to miss his usual routine. He had given up his favorite coffee spot while hiding from his stalker, who may or may not be actually stalking him.

It had crossed his mind several times over the past week that his girlfriend could have made up the story as an excuse to leave him and/or scare him. Perhaps she had seen the vehicle parked in the parking lot of one of his favorite restaurants or at his apartment and told him that was her Ex's car. The fact that the car had Utah plates and she claimed that her ex was in Utah was probably just another coincidence, or she had made it up because the car she saw had Utah plates. There were too many possibilities.

After finishing his shower, Greg walked back into the locker room to find Nick sitting on the bench in front of his locker. Nick looked up at him as he entered. "Greg," the older man began, "why have you been showering in the lab?"

"There's a problem with mine right now, should be fixed in a few days," Greg told him hoping Nick would not push the issue and ask him exactly what the problem was. He walked to his own locker to throw his dirty clothes in his backpack and grab his stuff to do his hair before beginning his shift.

"That sucks man," Nick said. "If you don't want to shower here, you can always use my shower."

"Thanks, but I think I can survive for a few days," Greg told him.

"Well I'm going to go and get a cup of coffee and relax before shift starts," Nick started walking toward the doorway of the locker room. Before walking out of the door, however, he turned and looked at Greg again and said. "Oh, I almost forgot, you remember that DVD that I lent you last week?"

"Yeah, it's in my apartment. It's on the shelf with all of my DVDs," Greg told him.

"Do you think you could get it for me and bring it in tomorrow?" Nick asked.

Greg looked at Nick with wide eyes. He couldn't go back to his apartment yet, it was too soon. "I was actually not planning on going home," he spoke quietly. "I'm going to stay at my girlfriend's place. She... she doesn't have a shower, just a bathtub, and I prefer to take showers."

"Ah," Nick said. "You see I promised another friend of mine that I would lend them the movie. I actually forgot to ask you to bring it in a few nights ago. Do you think we could stop by your place in the morning before you go to your girlfriend's place and get it? I promise not to keep you away from her for too long."

Greg bit his lip; although, he did not want to go back to his apartment he assumed that having Nick with him would be safe enough. If he was really being followed, his stalker wouldn't try to do anything while Nick was with him. "Yeah, we can do that."

"Great, thanks man. I will follow you to your apartment after shift then," Nick smiled before turning and walking away from the locker room.

Greg closed his eyes and tried to reassure himself that everything would be alright. He hoped if his stalker was waiting for him in the parking lot he would not follow him to his secluded spot near the desert. He did not know where else he could go. Taking a deep breath, he began to style his hair using the mirror that hung on his locker door.

* * *

Nick parked his car beside Greg's, surprised that the lab tech had parked in the back of the apartment complex. Nick got out of his car and joined Greg near the back door of the building. "Why are we parked around back?" Nick asked.

"The elevator was making strange noises yesterday; I don't want to ride in it. The stairs are closer to the back door than the front, so I thought it would save us time to just park here," Greg explained.

"Maybe you should talk to your landlord about how everything in the building seems to be breaking down," Nick suggested. He still felt as if something was off about Greg's excuses. They seemed like flimsy excuses.

"Yeah, I know," Greg said as they entered the building and started to walk up the stairway. Their voices echoed through the narrow stairwell.

"So Greg, you've been dating your girlfriend for a while now," Nick spoke as they reached the second floor and Greg slowly opened the door. Nick did not fail to notice the way that Greg looked up and down the short hallway before he slowly stepped out of the stairwell.

"Yeah, almost five months," Greg said walking toward his apartment a few doors down.

Greg seemed uncharacteristically quiet since they left the lab. Usually if someone asked Greg about his girlfriend, he would talk their ear off about her. He had told them about their dates, which Nick had to admit sounded far more romantic than his usual ideas for dates. His dates were at typical date locations like movies or a restaurant for dinner. Listening to the younger man talk about his unique dates had made his crush on the younger man grow more. He wondered what Greg would come up with for him. But despite his suspicions that Greg's girlfriend had been fabricated, Nick knew that Greg was not gay and pretending to be someone he was not like Nick had been doing for most of his life. It was not in Greg's character to pretend to be straight, if he was really gay. Greg would most likely announce it proudly to anyone willing to listen just like when he talks about his girlfriend.

Nick remained silent as Greg pulled out his keys and began to unlock his apartment door. As they entered, Nick noticed the apartment was just as neat and organized as it usually was. He wondered what their co-workers from the lab would think about the lab tech's apartment; since most of them would likely suspect that he was messy like he had before he first came to the apartment.

"Your DVD's over there on the shelf with the rest of them," Greg pointed to the large shelves near his large bay window. "If you don't mind getting it while I grab some more clothes from my bedroom before we go."

"Sure no problem," Nick said and walked toward the shelves. He watched Greg walk toward his bedroom from the corner of his eye before he started looking through the movies to find his. He was not surprised to discover that Greg had put his DVD amongst the others in alphabetical order. He wondered if Greg's organizational skills and nearly psychotic neatness was a result of the way he was raised or something else.

After finding his movie, Nick looked around the living area of the apartment while he waited for his friend to return. The bay window overlooked the parking lot and a large playground across the street. Nick could see several young kids, too young for school, already playing while their mothers or fathers looked on.

"Did you find it," Greg asked as he walked back into the living area.

"Yup, in alphabetical order just like everything else," Nick said still watching the children playing across the street. He noticed a couple of pre-schoolers running around the playground. He remembered he used to chase his sisters like that through their large back yard, but because they were older and taller at the time he was unable to catch them unless they allowed him to.

"Yeah, sorry I put it with the rest of them, but it just didn't look right to have it anywhere else," Greg explained as he walked toward him and glanced out the window. "What's so interesting outside?"

Nick glanced at the lab tech; he had not failed to notice the sudden nervousness that had invaded the younger man's tone of voice. Greg was staring at something in the back of the main parking lot where the only vehicle was an old powder blue Lincoln Continental that faced the direction of the play ground. Nick could just make out the outline of someone sitting in the driver's seat. Being a Criminalist, he could not help but wonder if the man was watching the children playing.

"I was just watching the children playing in the playground. It kinda reminded me of playing with my sisters when I was a kid," Nick said.

"I wouldn't know about that," Greg shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you know whose Lincoln Continental that is man?"

"No. Why?" Greg asked too quickly.

"I was just wondering. It seems suspicious. It's separated from all the other cars in the lot and there's someone sitting in it. It looks like they're watching the children at the park."

"I don't know," Greg said quickly. "I've never seen it before. I'm hungry, do you want to stop and get some breakfast before I go to Lisa's place?"

"Uh, sure man," Nick nodded turning to look out the window again. Greg's answers had been too quick, as if he knew more than he was willing to admit about the old car.

* * *

"I was surprised you wanted to go to breakfast before going to see your girlfriend, you seemed eager to go to her apartment when we were at the lab," Nick commented.

"When we were at the lab I thought I would want to go right home and go to sleep so I'm awake when she gets home from work. But I was hungry and I didn't want to lie in bed listening to my stomach growling," Greg explained.

Nick chuckled. "Yeah, we all know how annoying your stomach can be if you are not fed regularly," he teased. Greg ate like a teenager, eating whatever he wanted without gaining any weight.

"You should hear it when I'm in bed and everything else is quiet," Greg commented taking a drink of his coffee.

Nick's eyes widened at the comment, and he had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from making a comment. "I can imagine," he spoke quietly after several seconds of hesitation where some appealing ideas of being in bed with Greg invaded his mind.

"Well, I guess I should be going now," Greg said as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and sat a couple of dollars on the table for a tip. He then grabbed the check off the table and turned to walk away.

"Hey wait," Nick said quickly getting up and following Greg. "I can pay half of that."

"Nah, I got it," Greg told him and handed the waitress at the counter nearest the exit the check and some money.

A few minutes later they were both leaving the diner together walking toward their cars. "You have work tonight," Nick asked.

"Yup, I'll see you tonight," Greg said.

"Yeah, see you later," Nick said as Greg climbed into his car.

* * *

Greg sighed as the car that had been following him passed by his location. The car had not been close behind him, but it had unnerved him regardless. Greg closed his eyes and berated himself for being such a scared baby. He could not help but wonder how long he was going to let his fear over Lisa's words rule his life. He was spending his days sleeping in his car in the desert, if Grissom saw him he would send him to the Psyche Ward at Desert Palms Hospital.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself. He needed to stop thinking about his supposed stalker so he could get more than a few hours sleep. Greg slowly removed his seatbelt and climbed into the backseat of his car. He placed his pillow against the rear passenger side door and laid down. His car was not made to be slept in. He could not stretch out in the seat as he would like to and the seat belts constantly dug into his back while he tried to sleep. He really missed his bed.

Greg had just closed his eyes to try and sleep when he heard a noise outside of the car. He bit his lip and kept his eyes tightly closed hoping that it was just an animal outside the car. Several seconds passed and he began to relax again when suddenly he heard a knock on his window. He immediately reached for his cell phone in his pants pocket and opened his eyes hoping it had been a branch or something hitting the windshield. He doubted it. Upon opening his eyes he saw someone standing outside of his car and screamed.

Several more seconds passed before the shadowy figure of the man outside his car spoke. "Greg," Nick's familiar voice said. Greg closed his eyes and released the breath that he had been holding. His heart seemed to pound loudly in his chest like the rapid drum beats of his favorite songs. "Greg, could you please unlock the door?"

Taking a deep breath Greg sat up and reached up between the driver's side seat and the door to push the button to automatically unlock the doors. Nick immediately opened the passenger side door and climbed in. "Jesus Nick, you almost gave me a heart attack," Greg complained as the older man turned backward to face him.

"I'm sorry man, but what are you doing out here? Why aren't you at your girlfriend's place," Nick asked.

"She's away right now; I don't like staying in her..."

"Damn it Greg," Nick raised his voice, "stop lying to me. Is this about the stalker you told me about the other day? Did you lie when you said it was a prank?"

"I... Lisa's gone. She got another job; she left Vegas." Greg felt slightly relieved that he could at least tell the truth about that aspect of his situation.

"I'm sorry man, but why couldn't you tell me?"

"Nick, do you think I'm stupid? I know you have bets with Warrick and probably half the lab by now about whether Lisa was even real or if I just made her up. If I told you that we broke up before you got the chance to meet her you would have never believed that she was ever real. You talk about girls all the time. You practically have a different girl every night you have off. We don't meet them and no one accuses you of making the girls up. Why is that Nick," Greg questioned. His own voice was now raised. "It's because you are perfect Nick Stokes. The true ladies man, while I am just the strange geeky lab rat. Is it so hard to believe that a girl would agree to go out with me?"

"Whoa, now just a minute Greg."

"No Nick, don't try to tell me it's not true. Just leave alright."

"No," Nick said. "Look I admit it was wrong to assume that you made up having a girlfriend but you have to admit that you do exaggerate the truth quite a bit man."

"Oh come on," Greg said.

"No, Greg. You told Warrick that you surf; last I checked Lake Mead was lacking large enough waves. And you always talk about latex and pretend to know about all kinds of kinky sex things."

"You know Nick, you are an idiot. How can you be such a great CSI, but be blind to everything else? Do you know where I am from? I'm from California, last checked there were plenty of waves there, some are ideal for surfing. Just because I can't surf whenever I feel like it while I'm in Vegas doesn't mean I don't surf every time I go to visit my parents or just decide to go to California for the weekend."

"I... I'm sorry," Nick said. "You're right. I guess I shouldn't say anything without knowing more about you. But you still haven't told me why you are sleeping in your car in the dessert. What's wrong with your apartment?"

"Nothing is wrong with it aside from the shower; my landlord is refurbishing the apartment next to mine. Apparently my old neighbors damaged a lot. They work when I'm trying to sleep. It's quiet out here. I can't afford to stay at a hotel and like I already told you, Lisa left Vegas."

"Man, why didn't you say something? You know I would...."

"Feel sorry for me. I don't need your...."

"Stop that. I was going to say I would have helped you. Look, I know I haven't been acting like it lately, but you're my friend, Greg. I want to help you. I have a guest bedroom at my house and I would enjoy the company. We could play games; we could even call Warrick over and have a video football tournament. Come on, stay at my place till your apartment is quiet again."

"Nick, I'm fine here. I have food in the cooler, I usually go out to eat or I just pick up something, you don't need to burden yourself with me," Greg told him.

"Greg, you are not a burden and I'm not taking no for an answer so get your ass in the front seat so you can follow me to my place. You will stay in my guest bedroom. I'm sure my guest bed is much more comfortable than the backseat of your car and you can at least stretch your legs out."

"Fine," Greg conceded with a sigh. "I do know where you live, you know."

"Good then I will follow you, to make sure that you don't get any crazy ideas to go somewhere else," Nick told him.

Greg rolled his eyes and said, "Fine." Looking behind him he noticed that the other man's car was not parked behind his own. "Where's your car," he asked.

"It's parked on the side of the road across the street," Nick replied.

"Alright, go get your car and you can follow me again," Greg told him. After Nick walked away to go to his car, Greg sighed. He silently berated himself for not noticing that Nick had obviously been following him. What if it had been his stalker and not his friend? He shook his head and climbed into the front seat not wanting to think of the possibilities of that thought.

to be continued...


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After entering Nick's house, the older man showed Greg to the guest bedroom. Greg put his bags of clothes down on the floor near a dresser. He felt uncomfortable in Nick' house; like he didn't belong. He had only been in Nick's house once before when Nick had invited him and Warrick over to play video games and drink beer. Greg had assumed that the only reason he was invited was because he had been in the break room talking to Warrick when Nick had invited the other man over.

Nick showed Greg around the house and then said, "Don't be afraid to use the shower, watch TV, get something to eat, or whatever you need. I'm tired; I'm going to go to bed now. I'll talk to you later man."

"Alright," Greg nodded. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

"No problem man," he grinned and walked down the hallway to his own bedroom. Greg watched him walk away and sighed. He couldn't help wondering if he would be safe at Nick's place. He was afraid that if his stalker found him, what effect it would have on his friend. He didn't want to remind Nick of his own stalker from a few years ago. Just trying to ask the man a question about stalkers had proved disastrous.

With a sigh, Greg returned to the guest bedroom. He decided that he too would get some sleep. Hopefully he would be able to sleep better in a real bed than he had since this whole mess with Lisa's ex had begun.

* * *

The sound of banging abruptly woke Greg several hours later. It took him a moment to realize where he was. When he heard the noise again he feared that his stalker had found him and was inside Nick's house. Greg quickly got out of bed and poked his head out the door of the guest bedroom. He immediately noticed that all the lights were still out except a dim light coming from the kitchen and Nick's bedroom door was closed.

After hearing the noise again he realized that his that his stalker must have found him. He remembered in the break room at the lab, Nick had once told Catherine that he only kept his bedroom door closed when he was in it. He had told her when they were talking about his house after a cookout that Nick had all of the CSI's over his place for. Nick had said that it was a force of habit from growing up with so many nosy siblings. Greg quickly walked back inside the guest bedroom and fished his small pocket knife out of his discarded jeans pocket and walked toward the sounds still coming from the kitchen. He was determined to face the man before he woke Nick up. Hopefully he could convince the man to leave without Nick ever finding out he was there.

As he slowly approached the kitchen the sound of increased banging and muffled curses reached his ears. Greg, on instinct, tightened his grip on the small weapon. His hands were shaking as he reached the kitchen. Ever since the lab had exploded causing burns over his back and neck, he noticed that his hands would shake when he was nervous or scared.

Taking a deep breath Greg stepped into the entrance of the kitchen and said, "Stop what you are doing, I have a knife." His words were spoken hastily before he could focus on the man crouching in the kitchen searching for something in a cupboard under the counter.

"Whoa man, if you don't want breakfast just say so, you don't need weapons," Nick said raising his hands into the air while grinning.

"Nick," Greg breathed a sigh of relief. "What are you doing?"

"I'm making breakfast, but I can't find the damned waffle maker. My sister sent it to me two Christmases ago. I don't remember where I put it," Nick explained.

Not willing to leave the man off the hook just yet as his heart still thundered in his chest. He spoke again as he flipped the knife closed and leaned against the doorway, "I thought you only kept your bedroom door shut if you were asleep or in your bedroom? I remember you telling Catherine."

Nick looked at him and grinned. "Sometimes when I have unexpected company and my room is a mess I keep the door closed to hide the evidence of my uncleanliness."

"Oh," Greg said willing his hands to stop shaking. He felt like a fool as Nick crouched in his kitchen looking at him oddly.

"I'm glad you are trying to keep my place free of burglars, man but there's no need. I have an alarm system. Every thing's cool," Nick assured him.

"I'm sorry," Greg said. "I guess I'm just not used to staying with anyone."

"What about Lisa?"

"That's different; we were in the same bed. If she was at my apartment or I was at hers. It's kinda hard to forget you're not alone when the other person is wrapped up in your arms with their head resting on your chest."

Nick nodded, "I guess that's true." He was still watching Greg oddly. "Greg, listen, this doesn't have anything to do with the stalker you were trying to tell me about does it? I know I was upset, but if you really...."

"Nick, it's not that. It was just a joke; a bad joke actually. I forgot that you were not the right person to tell it too. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry," Nick said with a grin. "I over reacted, man. Now what do you think of having chicken and waffles for dinner if I ever find the waffle maker, that is?"

Greg smiled relieved that Nick had dropped the subject of his stalker. "That sounds great, I'm starving."

* * *

Nick sighed as he tied his shoes in his bedroom. He could hear the water running as Greg took a shower. He felt that Greg hadn't told him the truth about hwy he had been showering at the lab and sleeping in his car in the desert. He, however, was too afraid that if he said anything Greg would leave. He was determined to find out what was really going on with the younger man. With him staying at his house he would be able to keep an eye on him and hopefully convince the lab tech to tell him the truth about what was going on.

After going to bed in the morning, Nick had wondered if it was a good idea to let the man he had a crush on stay in his house. He had a feeling though, that Greg was safer with him; especially with additional security measures that he had added since his encounter with Nigel Crane. He did like having Greg nearby too. Although, listening to the younger man talk about his girlfriend lying in his arms and using him as a pillow disturbed him. He could easily imagine himself using Greg as a pillow after making love instead of Lisa. Nick shook his head to clear his thoughts before the DNA technician came out of the shower.

* * *

Greg was helping Catherine at a crime scene off strip. He wondered how long he could stay at Nick's house before the older man suspected there was really nothing wrong with his apartment complex. He had actually slept well at Nick's house last night. It was the most sleep he had gotten since Lisa had warned him about her ex.

"Greg," Catherine said as she placed a soda can into an evidence bag. He looked up at her from the display of candy he was dusting for finger prints. "We're almost done here, why don't you let me finish printing that and start taking the evidence out to the Denali."

"Sure," Greg nodded. He was somewhat relieved to get out of the convenient store for a moment. When Catherine had asked him to go with her so he could get more field experience, he had eagerly agreed. Now he wondered if it had been such a great idea after all. Catherine was in a bad mood. She had already complained to him about several things he didn't do right and she had accused him of not focusing twice already. He wished Sara or Nick would have been the ones to ask him to help with their crime scenes instead of Catherine. He had more fun the few times he had worked with them. They did not get upset if he tried to make a joke to lighten the mood the way that Catherine seemed to all day.

Greg's hands were full of bags of evidence as he made his way to the Denali, which was parked thankfully close to the store's entrance. As he walked around the back of the vehicle he noticed the blue Continental sitting in the parking lot of the grocery store across the street. It was facing the crime scene. He could see the driver sitting in the car although he couldn't see their face clear enough to get a description of him. For a moment he stood still staring at the man while still holding the evidence.

"You alright kid?" The police officer's voice startled him. The officer stood near his police cruiser to keep the scene secure His partner waited for them to finish processing inside the store.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Greg nodded as he quickly finished walking to the back of the Denali. He put some of the larger bags on the ground so he could open the back door.

"Are you sure? You look like you've seen a ghost," the officer asked him.

"Yeah," Greg forced a smile as he quickly put the evidence inside the vehicle. Once he finished he closed the door and took a quick glance at the car across the street before walking back to the convenient store. He was glad that the police were at the scene with them, but at the same time unnerved that the man was following him while he was working now too. He realized that the man must have been watching him when he left the lab with Catherine, he realized.

"Greg," Catherine said with a frown. "You're here to work and gain field experience, not to goof around and flirt with police officers. If you want to be a CSI you are going to have to pay more attention and acting the way you do in the lab. Being a CSI is a lot different than being a lab tech, the sooner you learn that the better your chances of actually becoming a CSI." She scolded him as she placed her fingerprint powder into her kit before closing it.

"Sorry," Greg said between gritted teeth.

"Grab your kit and let's get back to the lab," she told him taking her own kit in her hands and walking toward the doors.

With a sigh, Greg quickly grabbed his kit and hurried after her before she accused him of moving too slowly.

TBC


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Author's Notes: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter online. It has actually been finished for a while now, but real life kept interferring with editing it. Chapter five is already done and I already started editing so hopefully it will be online very soon.

Thanks for all the reviews so far.

* * *

As Nick walked toward the DNA lab he noticed Greg was sitting at his desk writing out a report or something. It was not an unusual occurrence, however, the fact that the younger man was sitting very still as he held the pen was. As he stood and watched the younger man he noted that he seemed to be having trouble concentrating. He and Warrick thought Greg would practically be bouncing off the walls after returning from the field with Catherine.

"Hey Greggo," Nick spoke as he entered the lab before anyone noticed him staring at the tech.

"Hey," Greg replied without looking away from his paperwork. "You have evidence for me to process?"

"No, I just came to let you know that Warrick is coming over after our shift to hangout and play video games. Warrick is bringing the beer, I'm getting us pizza, and if you want you can bring chips or pretzels or whatever you want man," Nick told him.

Nick watched as Greg nodded his head before finally looking up at him. "Sounds good," Greg told him.

"Man, is everything alright? How did it go out in the field with Catherine today," Nick asked. Since he returned from his own crime scene with Warrick two hours ago he and Warrick had both noticed the younger man was unusually quiet. Warrick had told him, when he dropped off their DNA evidence, that Greg had barely spoke to him. In the years that they have known the crazy lab tech, they had come to recognize that a quiet Greg Sanders usually meant something was troubling him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Being in the field was alright, I learned a lot," Greg shrugged his shoulders. He looked back down to the paperwork he had been working on previously.

"Alright man," Nick relented knowing the lab tech obviously didn't want to tell him what was wrong. "I'll see you later."

"K, I'll bring the snacks," Greg assured him as Nick walked toward the glass doorway.

Nick nodded and turned to watch the younger man for a few more seconds before he walked out of the lab. He hoped that Greg would be more willing to talk about whatever was bothering him later. With a sigh, he walked back to the break room where Warrick was waiting for him.

Greg drove out of his way to go to a more expensive 24 hour grocery store, which had two guards on duty at all times. One guard walked outside the store or sat in his vehicle to keep an eye out for trouble while the second guard was located inside the store to ensure customer safety and be on the look out for thieves. Greg felt safer going to this grocery store after discovering that his stalker was also following him while he was on duty surrounded by police officers.

After parking his car as close to the entrance as he could, and getting out of his car, he noticed the powder blue Lincoln Continental pulling into the parking lot. He quickened his pace and hurried into the store. He had never gotten a good look at the man's face so he would not have recognized the man if he had followed him inside. Greg therefore made his way through the store as quickly as possible and grabbed a bag of chips, pretzels, and a jar of ranch dip. He paid for the items and hurried out of the store.

His stalker's vehicle, he noted, was parked in the fire lane near the exit of the store. The security guard spoke to the man. At first Greg thought the guard was telling him to move his car, but as he walked by he could hear the guard giving him directions to get back to the strip from where he currently was. Greg wished he could believe the man was truly lost and his showing up here minutes after Greg was just a coincidence. Greg sighed and hurried to his car. He tossed the bags onto the passenger seat and started the car. As he pulled out of the parking spot and headed toward the exit, he saw the blue car pull away from the guard. When he finally pulled out, after waiting for passing vehicles, the car was right behind him. It was the closest the car had ever dared to be to his own car. Greg felt even more uncomfortable than he had in the store.

He knew that a stalker's behavior often escalated from simply following someone, to showing up at their door, threatening them, and in severe cases becoming violent. He had not been able to find a lot of information about stalkers behavior toward their victims' boyfriends, but it did not reassure him that he had nothing to worry about. He realized he would most likely have to tell someone about his stalker now. He just needed to decide who he should tell; Grissom or Brass would most likely be his best bet. He wasn't sure if Warrick would tell him he was paranoid or not, Catherine and Sara would worry too much, and Nick was totally out of the question because he had already tried that and didn't want to upset him again.

Greg was forced to drive around for an hour before he was finally able to lose his tail. He did not want to lead the psychopath to Nick's house; Nick had had enough problems with his own stalker nearly two years ago. Greg refused to knowingly do that to his friend.

When he had first started working for the Crime Lab he had developed an immediate attraction to Nick. He had flirted with him more than anyone else at the lab and had even thought the older man had flirted back a time or two, but as time went on he had come to realize that what he thought was Nick returning his flirting was actually nothing more than wishful thinking on his part. He had abandoned any hope that there would ever be anything beyond friendship between them and focused his attention on Sara for a while. He had dated other people for a while, mostly females. Then he met Lisa nearly five months ago at a Coin Collecting Convention.

* * *

Nick glanced at the clock as he and Warrick played a video game while they waited for Greg to show. Nick was becoming worried about Greg. It should not have taken so long to get chips and pretzels. The pizza that he had ordered while driving home had already been delivered and he and Warrick had already had two slices each.

"So how is it going having Greggo stay here with you," Warrick questioned.

"It's alright," Nick replied glancing at the door momentarily before looking back at his friend.

"Is he driving you nuts yet," Warrick grinned glancing over at him as he took a sip of his beer.

"Not as much as you would think, although I was surprised when he started cleaning my house yesterday after we ate. If I would have let him I think he would have cleaned the entire house. I had to argue with him that I could clean my own bathroom. I think he cleaned it when I went to get some groceries though," Nick chuckled.

"Whoa man are you trying to tell me that Greg Sanders, Mr. Crazy Rock N' Roll man, is a clean freak? The same Greg Sanders whose desk is always cluttered with samples that he needs to run," Warrick questioned.

"You should see his apartment," Nick chuckled. "He has his DVDs, CDs, and books organized alphabetically. It's very clean, but with so many books, CDs, and DVDs it looks somewhat cluttered. Organized clutter I guess you would call it."

"Wow, you know I guess I could see where his desk at the lab could be called organized clutter. He does seem to know where everything is in the lab. He just doesn't look like a neat and organized person," Warrick commented.

"There's a lot about him that you'd never expect," Nick grinned.

Before Warrick could respond to Nick's comment the door opened with a creak and Greg entered the house carrying two plastic bags. "Did you get lost getting the chips man," Warrick questioned as Greg entered and locked the door behind him.

"Nah, I ran into a friend at the store and we were talking for a while," Greg told them. He took the bags to the kitchen. Warrick and Nick could hear Greg walking around in the kitchen opening and closing cupboards.

"G, what are you doing?" Nick asked.

Greg walked back into the living room balancing two large bowls filled with chips and pretzels and a jar of dip in his arms. "I got bowls for the snacks," he replied as if it was a stupid question.

"So Greggo, what was wrong with you today. You looked like you were ready to ring someone's neck when I dropped our evidence off today," Warrick questioned.

"Nothing, just a bad day," Greg said as Nick took one of the bowls out of Greg's hands and placed it on the coffee table.

"Greg, you're our friend," Warrick said. "We are worried about you, now...."

"It was Catherine," Greg began running a hand through his hair. "She was just unbearable at the crime scene today. I think she hates me or either she just doesn't want me to be a CSI."

"Greggo," Nick began, "why wouldn't Catherine want you to be a CSI, I know she can be... a bitch at times, but I doubt..."

"Nick, she kept telling me I was doing everything wrong. She told me I was too distracted. There was nothing I could do that was right and she... she..." Greg shook his head refusing to finish his sentence.

"What else did she say," Warrick asked studying the agitated younger man.

"She said I was... she said I was flirting with the police officer outside our crime scene. She made it sound like I was gay," Greg sighed as he laid his head back on the cushion of the couch.

"Catherine was just in a bad mood last night. Lindsay was giving her trouble and she was mad at Grissom for giving her the 407 instead of the 419 that Warrick and I worked on," Nick explained. "I think it might be that time of the month too man."

"So," Warrick glanced at Nick and then back at Greg. "You are bi-sexual aren't you?

Greg immediately sat up straight and looked at the taller man sitting on the floor beside Nick. Both men looked at him intently. "Who told you that?"

"No one; Greg, the way that you flirt with everyone whether they are male or female and all your kinky sex stories about liquid latex and bondage, I assumed you are not entirely straight. You can tell us man; we are not going to think any less of you. You know one of my best friends is gay. You know Sanders; I think he would like you. Maybe one day we can go on a double date, I'll find a girl and bring him along and you can meet us," Warrick said.

Nick glared at Warrick and tried to quell the sudden anxiety that flooded him as he waited for the younger man's answer. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer; he didn't want to hear Greg say that he was straight. Hearing him say it, although, he already assumed it was true would ensure that he would never have even a slim chance with Greg that he now had.

When Greg didn't immediately answer, Warrick persisted. "Come on Sanders, you know you can trust us man."

"Fine," Greg said rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I guess you would say I was bi-sexual. But I don't need you to set me up with anyone." Greg said with a glance at Nick.

Nick, who had been looking away from Greg toward the paused video game, immediately turned his head to look at the younger man. He felt his stomach begin to twist in knots. That was not the answer he had expected. He assumed there could never be anything more than friendship between him and Greg. He couldn't help stare at Greg as his mind became overrun with thoughts of whether Greg would want to go out with him. Just because he liked both men and women didn't mean the lab tech liked him.

Warrick glanced at Nick and winked his eye. "Man, let me know if you change your mind about the double date, I really think you and my friend would like each other."

"Yeah, I'll let you know," Greg nodded with a quick glance at Nick before lowering his gaze to stare at the floor.

"You know it's getting I'm getting tired. I'm going to head home," Warrick said looking at Nick. "Don't think that you are getting out of losing though Stokes," Warrick grinned as he stood up.

"You were the one losing Brown," Nick teased.

"I'll see you guys at work tonight," Warrick said walking toward the door.

Nick shook his head knowing that Warrick was leaving so he could talk to Greg. Although the younger man had admitted that he was bi-sexual, it didn't mean he liked Nick as anything more than a friend. Greg stood up and began to put the potato chips away without saying anything else. "Greg, I'll clean up, you don't need to worry about it," he told him.

Greg nodded his head and walked away. Nick watched him walk toward the guest bedroom without looking at him. He knew something was wrong with the younger man. He assumed it had something to do with Greg admitting that he was bi because he had barely spoken since.

Nick quickly put the snacks and drinks away and walked toward the guest bedroom. The door was still open and he could see Greg sitting on the bed with his hands over his face. "Greg," Nick said from the doorway, "you alright?"

"Yeah," was Greg's simple reply.

With a sigh Nick entered the guest room and sat on the bed a foot away from Greg. "Are you really bi?" He closed his eyes as soon as the last word left his mouth. It was a stupid question. The lab tech had just admitted it; why would he admit it if it wasn't true?

Greg moved his hands away from his face and looked at Nick. "Yes. Do you want me to leave?"

"No," Nick said wondering why he would think he wanted him to leave.

"You don't have to be nice to me," Greg sighed. "I understand if you are uncomfortable around me now." His words were spoken so softly Nick could barely hear him.

"Greg, I'm not uncomfortable. I'm glad you are here; I like having you around. Besides if I felt uncomfortable around you, then I'd have to feel uncomfortable with myself. Warrick wasn't entirely correct about his friend being gay. I'm bi, although, I usually prefer men," Nick explained.

Nick watched as the younger man's eyes widened. "But... I... I thought you were straight. You always talk about women, you even... you.... Are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

Nick smiled, "Maybe this will convince you," he said leaning forward until his lips gently brushed against the younger man's. It was a short simple touch of lips because even if Greg did like him, it was probably too soon after his break up with Lisa. "If I was lying would I have did that?"

"I guess not," Greg said still looking at him disbelievingly.

"You know I've kinda liked you for a while now. I don't expect you to feel the same..." Nick was interrupted by Greg pulling him close for their first passionate and breath taking kiss. Each of their tongues fought for dominance until they were forced to part for air.

"I was attracted to you since I first met you, but I thought you were straight so I tried to ignore it. Eventually I just moved on and settled for only having your friendship. Although there were times I wasn't sure you really were my friend."

"I hated hearing about your girlfriends. And you were always talking about Sara. When you dated that model for a while I thought I had no chance. I thought that you had to be straight."

Greg chuckled, "First of all not all my dates were girls, I just let you guys assume they were like with Alex. And as for the model, that day she met you guys she tried to convince me to ask you to join us. She was only straight in public and she knew that I was bi. I told her that you were straight though. She was into some very wild stuff. Lady Heather would have been proud."

"You're not kidding are you?" Nick asked his eyes just as wide as his friend's had been a few moments earlier.

Greg shook his head while grinning.

"Shit that's hot. I should have told you about me a long time ago."

"I didn't tell you either."

"No you didn't. So would you want to go out on a date sometime," Nick suddenly felt nervous again.

"I thought you'd never ask," Greg grinned again.

"So how about tomorrow evening before work? We could go out to dinner, maybe a movie too," Nick suggested.

"Sounds good," Greg agreed.

"Good. Well, I'm going to go to bed now man, I'll see you later," Nick said and leaned forward to give Greg another quick kiss on the lips before getting up off the guest bed.

"Night," Greg told him.

Nick left the room and grinned. He owed Warrick, he realized. He would have to find a way to thank his older friend.

TBC


	6. Chapter 5

Sorry this chapter took a lot longer to edit than I planned. Real life can be a pain sometimes. I drive a school van and since school started two weeks ago it has been very hectic trying to get used to the different hours I have this year compared to last year. And before that we had to deal with picking up the van from base, figuring out the route, then calling the parents to let them know when I'll pick up the kids. And we had to buy school clothes and supplies for my kids to go back to school.

Since I have to get up at 4 a.m. every morning now and go to bed early, I've been too tired after coming home to use the computer much. I'm hoping that will change once I get used to the route. Anyway, I've already started writing chapter six, but I don't know when I will get it finished and edited. Please be patient, I will try to update as soon as I can.

* * *

Chapter Five

Greg yawned as he sat in the locker room getting ready to go to Nick's house after a seemingly never ending shift. He could not stop thinking about his date with Nick later. He was worried that despite being friends with Nick they would feel awkward on their date with.

"Hey Greg," Warrick greeted entering the locker room. "I heard about your date tonight, congratulations. I didn't think Nicky would ever ask you."

"Yeah me either," Greg grinned.

"You know my offer for a double date still stands although now you know who my friend is," Warrick grinned.

"Yeah, that would be good," Greg nodded looking down at the floor.

"Are you alright man?" Warrick asked sitting beside him on the bench. "You know if you really don't want to double date, it's not a big deal."

"No, it's not that," Greg sighed and ran his hand through his spiky hair. "I had trouble sleeping," Greg told him. He had a nightmare that made it impossible to fall back asleep afterward. He dreamt that he and Nick were walking down a street after their date and his stalker had confronted them. The faceless man of his dream pulled out a gun. He had aimed it at him, but Nick had pushed him out of the way and was shot instead. Greg had held the older man while he died.

Afterward the image of Nick getting shot and dying kept replaying in his mind the rest of the day. He had gotten up and had cleaned Nick's house as quietly as he could. His mother was always obsessive with making sure everything was clean and orderly and it had stuck with him. The habit of making sure his room and any other room he was in was a kept clean to avoid her lectures stuck with him even after he moved out of his parents' house. And now he found himself unable to sleep if his apartment was not clean.

"Greg," Warrick sighed. "We've all noticed that something has been bothering you. If you need to talk about it you can talk to me, especially about your stalker."

Greg's eyes widened at Warrick's words. "I told Nick I made it up, there's no...."

"Greg, you're not as good a liar as you think. If you had really made it up, you wouldn't be acting so strange lately, well stranger than usual. You might have acted differently around Nick for a few days because of feeling bad, but you would be fine by now. If you don't want to talk to me fine, talk to Grissom, or Brass, or even Nick; make him believe you. Tell him you didn't make it up. You need to tell someone before that psycho does something," Warrick instructed him.

Before Greg could respond his cell phone began to ring. He took the device out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. He was surprised to see the number for the Gourmet Coffee Warehouse on the small screen. It was the warehouse he got his coffee from, but they usually called his home number, not his cell phone. He actually didn't remember giving them his cell number. "Sanders," he spoke after flipping the phone open.

"Mr. Sanders, this is Ralph from the Gourmet Coffee Warehouse. We've left several messages on your home phone," a deep man's voice spoke into his ear.

"Yeah, I've been busy and haven't been home a lot lately," Greg explained.

"That's fine Sir. I was told to contact you and let you know that, due to a new policy, if you do not pick up your order within a week we may be forced to sell your order to someone else. And your order will be reordered for you to pick up later or your money will be refunded."

"What? You've got to be kidding me, I paid for that order you have no...."

"Sir, I'm sorry, but my boss is tired of keeping orders for months at a time sometimes before our customers pick them up. We do not have the space to keep our customers orders for a long time," the man explained.

"Yeah, fine I'll pick it up today. I'll be there in about an hour. I'm still at work right now, so I have to go," Greg said flipping his phone closed.

"Something wrong," Warrick inquired. He closed his locker and then leaned against it as he waited for Greg's response.

"Apparently due to a policy change my coffee distributer needs me to pick up my coffee now or they're going to give my coffee away to someone else then I'll have to wait for them to reorder it. Now I get to drive all the way out to Mount Charleston and back before I can go to sleep," Greg sighed.

"Mount Charleston, are you telling me that you have to drive there just to get your coffee," Warrick questioned.

"Yeah, usually I wait until I have a night off to pick it up, but with the new policy I can't do that, Nick's coffee sucks compared to mine anyway," Greg told him.

"Compared to your coffee almost any other coffee sucks man," Warrick concurred. "You still have to talk to someone about the stalker Greg. You can't use your coffee as an excuse not to talk to anyone."

"I'll talk to Grissom before my shift tonight, right now I need to get my coffee and get some sleep before my date with Nick," Greg assured him.

"Good," Warrick nodded taking a step away from the locker.

Greg stood up to leave the locker room but stopped at the doorway and turned to look at Warrick. "Thanks for believing me."

"Sure. You just make sure you tell Grissom or I will tell him and you know that he won't be happy you didn't tell him yourself. He'll probably lecture you on waiting so long to tell anyone, though.

"I know. I'll talk to him first thing tonight before work, don't worry," Greg promised and left the room.

**********************

Nick stood beside Greg's car in the parking garage waiting for the younger man to come out of the building. He knew that Greg would be out soon since he had seen him cleaning the DNA lab as he always did before leaving. He shook his head as he thought about when he woke up in the afternoon. He had gone to the bathroom and noticed the smell of cleanser. He knew Greg must have cleaned the bathroom. Later when he walked into the kitchen he found the younger man cleaning out his refrigerator. Apparently he had a lot of spoiled food pushed to the back of the appliance. Nick shook his head; he had never had a house guest who kept his place cleaner than he did.

A few minutes later Greg walked through the elevator doors of the parking garage. The younger man smiled when he saw Nick waiting for him. "You couldn't wait till I got to your place to see me."

Nick smiled too. "I was going to leave, but I kinda wanted to ask you something first."

"Alright, what do you want to ask me?"

"You had a nightmare last night," Nick told him. "You were calling out my name, but by the time I got to your room you had calmed down and appeared to be asleep again. When I woke up this afternoon you were cleaning everything in my house you could instead of sleeping. Was the dream about your stalker?"

"Nick," Greg began with a sigh.

"No," Nick cut him off. "Don't tell me you made it up. I was talking to Officer Jones today. He asked me if you were alright. He said you went out to the Denali last night, looked across the street and you suddenly looked anxious like you saw a ghost or something. Your stalker was across the street wasn't he?"

"Nick, I already talked to Warrick. He made me promise to talk to Grissom or Brass, which I'm going to do before work tonight. Right now I need to go. I have to go pick up my order of coffee before they give it to someone else due to a policy change. I would also like to get some sleep, because I have a hot date tonight and I really don't want to fall asleep in the middle of it."

"Yeah, your date may want you to be awake," Nick grinned. "Seriously though man, you really do need to talk to Grissom or Brass. If you want I can go with you when you talk to them."

"Alright," Greg nodded.

"Where do you have to go to pick up your coffee?"

"Mount Charleston, it's the Gourmet Coffee Warehouse on Pecora Springs Road off Kyle Canyon Road," Greg replied.

"Wow, that's like 40 miles away," Nick whistled. "Would you like some company for the ride?"

"It's actually 37 miles and about 40 minutes one way depending on traffic and road construction delays. You don't have to come with me if you don't want to," Greg told him.

"No, I want to go. I want to see where you get your famous coffee," Nick grinned. "We can come back here later and pick up my car."

"Alright," Greg nodded pulling his keys out of his jeans pocket.

Nick walked around to the passenger side of the silver car and got in and sat down after the other man unlocked the door. The first fifteen minutes were spent with Greg explaining what was going on with the stalker in greater detail than his first attempt to tell Nick about it.

"Your landlord isn't refurbishing the apartment next to yours is he? You just don't want to stay there?"

Greg sighed as he drove down Kyle Canyon Road. "You remember that Lincoln Continental that you were watching out my apartment window, the one you thought was watching the children at the playground," when Nick nodded Greg continued. "I don't think he was watching the playground."

"That's the car that's been following you, the one your girlfriend warned you about? And you are just telling me this now," Nick asked with wide eyes.

"You weren't exactly willing to listen to me the first time I told you," Greg shrugged his shoulders.

"I thought you were playing a prank. You should have told me it wasn't a prank that you were really freaked out over this. Or if you didn't think I would have listened to you should have talked to Grissom or someone else about this sooner. You're lucky he hasn't tried to attack you or anything already," Nick told him.

"Lisa said she didn't think he would do anything to me. She said he'd follow me to see if I would lead him to her. She said if he did anything he may try to convince me to tell him where she is or minor things like flatten my tires, and watch me to make me nervous. I just don't like the idea of some psycho watching me in my apartment," Greg explained.

"Yeah, it is freaky knowing someone was watching your every move," Nick said softly.

"Sorry," Greg said with a quick glance at the other man. "I didn't want to remind...."

"Stop apologizing G, it's not your fault. A lot of things remind me of my stalker, but after we catch your stalker we can help each other out," Nick assured him.

"How about we talk about something else? I don't want to talk about stalkers anymore until we go and talk to Grissom tonight," Greg remarked.

Nick grinned as Greg turned onto Pecora Springs Road. He could not blame the younger man for not wanting to talk about it if he didn't have to. He had felt the same way He also hated the looks of pity he had gotten after the whole incident with his own stalker. "Sure why don't you tell me about cleaning my house, Greg. Your nightmare obviously upset you; do you always clean when you're upset?"

"No, I was just bored and your house needed to be cleaned. And before you try telling me I don't need to do it, it's the least I can do since you are letting me stay with you."

Nick nodded. He realized the pointlessness of arguing with the younger man. Instead he turned his attention to the windy road Greg was driving on. "Wow, I would have thought I'd have to go back to Texas to see winding roads like this."

"Nick," Greg spoke with a nervous edge to his voice that wasn't there a moment ago. Nick noticed the lab tech suddenly looked more worried than Nick had seen him since his first day back to work after the lab explosion. "The brakes aren't working. It's hard to steer and…. Shit!"

Greg's words were interrupted as they quickly approached a sharp turn. Nick knew at the speed they were traveling the car would not make it around the curve. He could see Greg's foot desperately pressing the brake pedal as he tried to slow the car. Instead the vehicle only seemed to go faster.

"Nicky!" Greg yelled as the car went off the road toward a small gulley with a telephone pole on the other side of the gulley.

The first thing he became aware of when he opened his eyes was pain. His nose was throbbing and he could feel the warmth of what could only be blood trickling from his nose. His neck also felt sore, but because of the air bags in the car they seemed to be his only injuries. As awareness of what had happened returned to his foggy mind, he remembered the accident and slowly turned his head to check on Greg.

"Greg," gasped Nick as he looked at the unconscious younger man. Blood covered most of what he could see of the lab tech's face.

The front driver's side of the car had hit the pole on the other side of the gulley. Because of the gulley, the car was leaning against the pole on a 35-degree angle. If he had not been wearing his seatbelt Nick would have landed on top of Greg, most likely causing him more injuries.

"Greg, can you hear me?" With a shaky hand Nick reached out and placed his fingers over Greg's carotid artery. He released a sigh of relief after he felt a steady pulse beneath his fingertips. He then immediately reached for his cell phone to call dispatch. "This is CSI Stokes; I'm on Pecora Springs Road off Kyle Canyon Road near Mount Charleston. I've been involved in a 401B. We need assistance." Nick listened to the response from dispatch and flipped the phone closed. All he could do now was to wait. He did not want to take his seatbelt off and try to get out of the vehicle for fear of hurting Greg further.

TBC


	7. Chapter 6

I know a lot of you probably thought that I had abandoned this story, but I assure you I haven't. Real life has been hectic lately especially since I am getting a lot more hours at work lately, which interferes with how much time i have to write.

I do plan on finishing this story though, and even have ideas for more stories after this one is complete. I already have planned out what will happen in the next few chapters. We should be nearing the end of the story.

Anyway, finally here is chapter six. I will try to get the next chapters finished a lot sooner. :)

* * *

Chapter Six

Nick Stokes paced back and forth through the waiting room of the Desert Palms Hospital anxiously waiting for news of Greg's condition. It had been over an hour since he was released from his own examination.

"Nick," Warrick rushed toward him. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm fine, I don't know about Greg though, they won't tell me anything. He was unconscious when we were brought in. Rick he was covered in blood."

"He'll be fine," Warrick tried to reassure him.

"Nicky," Catherine said as she and Grissom rushed up to them. "Are you alright? Where's Greg?"

"I'm fine," he repeated. "They're still working on Greg. I haven't heard anything yet. He... he hadn't regained consciousness when we were brought here."

"Nick, you don't look fine. Your nose is swollen and you have some cuts and bruises on your face and arms. What the hell happened," Catherine demanded.

"It's just a fractured nose and some minor cuts and bruises," Nick shook his head.

"The Mount Charleston Police are having Greg's car towed to the Crime Lab. They said you requested it. What's going on Nick," Grissom questioned sternly.

"I think something was wrong with Greg's car. The brakes weren't working. Before we crashed he was also having trouble steering. Grissom, something wasn't right, we were not going downhill but the car continued to accelerate and I know Greg's foot was on the brake pedal," Nick explained.

"You think his car was tampered with," Catherine inquired.

Nick nodded his head. Before he could say anything else Warrick spoke. "You think it was his stalker don't you?"

"What stalker? Are you talking about Nigel Crane?" Catherine questioned.

"No, someone was stalking Greg," Nick said.

"What?" Catherine's eyes widened.

"Nick Stokes," A tall thin man wearing a white lab coat asked as he entered the waiting area.

"Yeah, that's me," Nick said turning his focus on the doctor. He had gray hair that was cut very short making the wrinkles on his forehead visible. Nick remembered seeing the man in the hospital before while he was checking on an attempted murder victim, but could not remember his name.

"I am Doctor Williamson," he supplied.

"How's Greg," Nick immediately asked as he shook the man's hand.

"Mr. Sanders was very lucky. Most of his injuries were not serious. He has several minor cuts, as well as some that required stitches. We gave him a total of 11 stitches. He has several bruises, a fractured nose, dislocated shoulder, and sprained wrist. His most severe injury was a deep gash on his forehead, which required five stitches and gave him a concussion. He was also malnourished when he was brought in. We have him on pain meds and fluids for malnourishment right now. He hasn't regained consciousness yet, although he should within the next hour. We are going to keep him here a couple of hours at least for observation."

Nick closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. He remembered when Greg had first gotten his car. He, Warrick, and a lot of the lab techs had teased him about getting a family car instead of a sports car like they would have expected of him. Nick now was immensely grateful Greg had chosen the safer car over the Mustang the younger man had also been looking at. "Thank you Dr. Williamson," he finally said. "Can I see him?"

"Yes, follow me," the doctor nodded.

"Nick, you are going to have to give us a statement about what happened," Grissom told him. "After you see Greg, I want you to come back to the lab. We'll be processing Greg's car."

"I'll catch a ride with Gris," Warrick pulled out his car keys from his pocket. "Here you can bring my car to the lab when you're done here."

Nick nodded, caught the keys his taller co-worker had tossed at him, and continued to follow the doctor to Greg's recovery room. He did not care about giving a statement right now; he just wanted to see with his own eyes that Greg really was alright. When he entered the room Greg was laying on his back with his eyes closed looking much better than when he had last seen him. The blood had been cleaned off his face. A bandage covered the left side of his forehead. Small cuts and bruises peppered the left side of his face, neck and what he could see of his left arm that wasn't covered by a splint or a sling. Greg's nose was also bruised and slightly swollen.

"Don't stay too long, he needs to rest," Doctor Williamson told him. "We'll call you when Mr. Sanders can go home."

"Thank you," he nodded. As the doctor left the room Nick walked closer to the bed and sat down in the chair beside the bed. He reached out and took Greg's uninjured right hand in his hand.

Greg slowly opened his eyes and grinned when he looked up at Nick. "You're ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You scared me though, how do you feel?"

"Fine right now," Greg grinned again. "The meds are working," he spoke softly and seemed to fight to keep his eyes open. "Do you know when I can get out of here? I hate hospitals."

"I know; I remember all of your complaining after the lab explosion," Nick grinned. "Your doctor wants to keep you for a couple of hours for observation."

"Don't need observation," Greg said as his eyes closed for a few seconds before opening again.

"Just sleep and by the time you wake up it'll be time to get out of here," he assured the younger man.

"I'm sorry I messed up our date," Greg's words were slightly slurred.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're alright man," Nick squeezed Greg's hand gently. "We'll have plenty of time after you feel better."

Greg had already drifted off to sleep again. Nick sat with him for 30 minutes watching him sleep before he finally left to go to the lab. He had a strange feeling that he shouldn't leave, that he should just sit with Greg until he was ready to be released.

* * *

Warrick sat silently in the break room trying not to think about Greg, but failing. He could not help but feel guilty. He felt he should have talked to the younger man about his stalker sooner. If he would have told Greg to talk to Grissom or Brass sooner or just went to one of them himself maybe they could have stopped the man before he could hurt Greg.

"Hey man," Nick said entering the break room looking very tired. "I just finished giving Brass my statement."

"Hey, how's Greg doing," Warrick asked as Nick walked straight to the coffee pot and began pouring himself a cup of the hot liquid.

"He's resting right now. His doctors will call when they're ready to release him." Nick sat across the table from Warrick. "So I thought you guys were checking out Greg's car?"

"Yeah, there was some kind of mix up. We're still waiting for the car to be delivered; I think they sent it to the wrong town before realizing it was supposed to be sent to Vegas. Grissom and Sara went to a crime scene off the strip; an assault case. He said you should help me when the car gets here. Although you look really tired man, if you want to go and take a nap I'll be fine."

"No, no, I'm fine I just have a headache. I want to help catch this guy so we can lock him up and Greg can get on with his life," Nick took a drink his coffee.

"Yeah man, we all want this guy caught. None of us are going to give up until Greg is safe."

"I know," Nick nodded. "So where did Catherine go?"

"Gris sent her home to see Lindsey since the car wasn't here anyway. She said she'll call later."

Nick nodded as he absentmindedly slid his finger back and forth over the rim of the coffee cup while images of Greg Bloodied and unconscious replayed in his mind.

Two hours later, a day shift lab tech that Warrick didn't remember meeting before entered the room and informed them the car had arrived and was waiting for them in the garage.

"Finally," Warrick said as he stood up. After waking up his friend who had fallen asleep at the table he walked out of the break room. Nick followed him slowly.

Once they entered the garage, Warrick whistled upon seeing the state of Greg's car. "Wow," he said. "Greg's lucky he wasn't hurt worse, there's a lot of damage on the driver's side." He immediately noticed the dried blood on the inside driver's side door and the steering wheel.

"Yeah," Nick nodded as he looked over the damage to the driver's side of the car that he had not been able to see when the vehicle was in the ditch. The entire driver's side was dented; the glass in the front and rear drier's side windows were both smashed out, and the left side of the front windshield was full of spider web cracks. The rear and passenger side windows, however, had not sustained any damage. "The car was still in the ditch when they got Greg out. They had to get him out through the passenger side."

Warrick nodded as he stood in front of the car. "Could you pop the hood for me?"

Warrick's question had broken him out of his memories of the crash. He shook his head and reached inside the car through the driver's side window and pulled the latch to release the hood.

Warrick took a deep breath and opened the hood. He hoped they did not find any signs of tampering on the car; maybe that would mean that Greg wasn't really being stalked by his girlfriend's psychotic ex and was just being paranoid. He immediately noticed the layer of engine dust that covered the engine. Oddly an out of place device lacking engine dust was attached to the main wiring harness. Wires lead from the device to the ABS box, the intake, and the steering column. "Damn," he spoke as he grabbed his camera from his near by kit and snapped a few pictures of the device. "There's a lockout box here."

"A lockout box," Nick repeated as he peered over Warrick's shoulder to examine the foreign device for himself.

"I'm going to call and give Grissom a heads up, why don't you see if you can get any prints off that thing," Warrick told him.

Nick nodded and walked over to his kit while Warrick pulled out his cell phone.

"Hey Gris," Warrick spoke into the phone. "Yeah, it finally arrived. There's a lockout box in the engine. It's affixed to the wiring harness. There are wires leading to the ABS box that look like they were rigged to trick the box into believing the brakes were not being applied even though they were. The wires leading to the intake tricked the car to accelerate when the throttle wasn't being applied. And the wires going to the steering column locked the steering wheel when the box was activated. This guy knew what he was doing," Warrick nodded his head as he listened to his boss' response. "Alright; that's great. Yeah, I'll let him know."

Nick lifted a second print off the lockout box and turned to look at Warrick as he snapped his cell phone closed. He looked at his friend expectantly.

"Grissom was at the hospital to process the victim of his assault case and stopped to see Greg. He said that the nurses were trying to get a hold of you because Greg's ready to be discharged but they only got your voice mail. Grissom is going to take him home as soon as he's dressed and the discharge papers are done. He wants us to call Brass and have him send a couple police officers to Greg's place to make sure his stalker doesn't come after him again," Warrick explained.

As he listened to his friend speak, Nick pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and sighed. "Damn, batteries dead. I forgot to put it on the charger," Nick complained. "You want to get these prints to Jacqui and I'll call Brass," Nick asked picking up the phone in the garage.

"Yeah, sure man."

* * *

An hour later Grissom entered the print lab to find Nick, Warrick, and Sara in the finger print lab with Jacqui Franco, "Anything yet?"

"Yeah, we just got the results. His name is John Powell he was arrested in Salt Lake City for assaulting his girlfriend Amanda Spencer five years ago. She had a restraining order against him. He spent two months in jail for the assault then a year later he nearly killed Amanda who left Salt Lake City and moved to Seattle to get away from him; he stabbed her in the abdomen but a friend found her in time. She told the police that John Powel tried to kill her, but he had escaped and is still at large. It says he's an electrician," Warrick read from the computer screen. "He'd definitely know how to rig the lock out box to Greg's car."

"I think Lisa is an alias of Amanda Spencer. Greg mentioned that Lisa kept moving to different location, but her ex just kept finding her, it would make sense that she would change her name to try to get away from him," Nick said.

"Yes," Grissom nodded. "Call Brass and have him put an APB out on John Powel."

"We already did we also told him what kind of car he was driving," Sara said.

"We were just about to go to Nick's house to see how Greg was doing," Warrick added.

"Nick's house," Grissom asked looking curiously between Warrick and Nick.

"Yeah, Greg has been staying at my house for the past few days. It's safer at my place anyway I have an alarm system," Nick explained. He had it installed after his own stalker incident. "I told Brass to have the police officers go to my place."

Grissom's eyes widened and looked worried, it was the most emotion that Nick had seen on the supervisor's face in a long time and it sent a chill down his spine. "I took Greg to his apartment."

TBC


	8. Chapter 7

Sorry it took so long to finish this chapter, but real life has been crazy lately and I was attacked by that pesky writer's block. I did get a new beta reader though, Appreciates Fine Labrats, who I would like to thank for her help.

* * *

_Chapter Seven_

"_He's still not answering," Nick said flipping Warrick's phone closed after leaving a message on Greg's answering machine. _

"_He's probably asleep; Grissom said he made sure Greg took his pain meds before he left his apartment. Don't assume the worst man," Warrick told him as he drove toward Greg's apartment complex. He tried to comfort his friend, even though he also felt as if something was very wrong. He could not stop thinking about Nick's stalker. He had almost lost a friend then and feared this time they may not be as lucky. _

"_Yeah," Nick nodded. "I'll feel better though, when I can see for myself that he's alright and drag his ass back to my place." Staring out the window Nick silently prayed that Greg was safe._

* * *

_Greg yawned as he stretched out on his bed. The pills Grissom made him take had finally started to work. He felt as if he had not slept in days despite being unconscious the majority of the time he was in the hospital. Just as he closed his eyes, a loud knock at his front door caused him to jump. He sighed and rolled his eyes assuming it was either the police Grissom was sending to "babysit" or whoever had been trying to call him for the past half hour. He had opted to try to get some sleep instead of constantly telling people that he was fine. Slowly, he got up again as the banging on the door became louder and more persistent. _

"_I'm coming," he said as he made his way out of his bedroom, down the hall toward the living area where the front door was. As he walked, the room became fuzzy, forcing him to lean against the wall for support. He slowly reached out to open the door when it suddenly flew open, hitting him in the face and slamming him into the wall behind him. _

_Stunned, he leaned against the wall his right cheek and jaw erupting in pain as a blurred figure entered his apartment. He could tell it was a large man by the shape of the figure as he fought to remain standing. _

"_Wh… who are you? What do you want," Greg rasped getting a good look at his stalker for the first time as his vision began to clear. _

"_Where is Amanda," the large man demanded as he took a step toward Greg. _

"_Who is Amanda?"_

"_You know damned well who she is. My girlfriend that you have been screwing," the man glared at Greg angrily and took more steps closer to the frightened lab tech. _

"_She's…"_

"_If you would have just cooperated at the hospital, you little jerk, I wouldn't have had to come here. But you were always either unconscious or not alone. You ruined my plans to talk t you peacefully."_

"_You made me wreck my car so you could talk to me," Greg questioned wide-eyed. He could not believe anyone would do that. "You could have just knocked on the door."_

"_You've been running from me and avoiding me since I came to Vegas. Do you think I'm stupid enough to believe you would let me into your apartment willingly? My idea was brilliant; I'd already stole a doctor's lab coat and a name tag for my plan, but you messed it up," the man sneered as the phone in the kitchen rang. Greg inched slowly along the wall, away from the man. He knew he would not be able to get to the phone and answer it before the man could stop him, and it would only anger him more. _

_After the phone stopped ringing, the answering machine clicked on, and Greg's cheerful voice sounded on the message. "You've reached Greg, you know what to do, and if you don't then you shouldn't be calling me anyway." _

_Seconds later Nick's voice filled the apartment, "Hey Greg, its Nick. Listen there was a mix up and Grissom took you to your apartment instead of taking you to mine, which is safer. Warrick and I are going to come and pick you up to take you to my place. I… I guess I'll see you when we get there."_

_Greg had not failed to notice the anxiety lacing Nick's voice or the way his Texan accent became more prominent as the message played. He also realized the man in front of him, who was now taking several more steps closer to him, looked angrier. _

"_Maybe y… you should go before they get here. My girlfriend's name was Olivia anyway, so I don't know what you are talking about. Sh… she broke up with me and left Vegas a month ago," he lied not wanting to give the psycho Lisa's real alias. _

"_Olivia," the man repeated slowly. He was now standing right in front of Greg, who felt much smaller in the shadow of his bulk. "She's been using a fake name for a while now; she's also a blonde now. And I doubt Olivia is the name that she told you, since you already lied to me about when she left. I saw you with her several times. I saw you kissing her and I know she spent the night here several times before she suddenly disappeared no more than a week ago."_

"_She told me…" Greg closed his eyes for a moment against the dizziness that once again overwhelmed him. Opening his eyes again, he spoke "She didn't tell me she had a boyfriend when we met."_

"_I don't care. You were seeing her; that's all that matters. Where did she go?"_

"_I don't know," Greg told him. _

"_Don't lie to me boy," the man snarled. H reached out to grab Greg, but the lab tech was expecting it. He tried to move out of the way, but the stalker was quicker. He grabbed the injured man and threw him back into the wall knocking the air out of him again. _

"_Where is she," he thundered as the phone began to ring again. _

"_She… she didn't tell me where she was going. She said it was better if I didn't know." Greg tried to come up with a way out of this mess, but was too weak to fight the larger man. He knew his only hope of survival was to keep the lunatic talking until Nick and Warrick got there._

"_If that is true, she was wrong. I'll find her again and you will die for touching my girlfriend."_

"_I… I didn't know…"_

"_I don't care," the man told him and wrapped his large hands around Greg's throat. He lifted the younger man off the floor, squeezing his neck tightly and cutting off his oxygen. _

_Greg kicked his legs wildly and clawed at the man's arms in desperation. If Nick and Warrick didn't get there soon, it would be too late. _

_As he struggled to breathe, he realized he and his assailant were leaving evidence for his friends to process. The man's DNA would be under his fingernails from clawing and scratching him. There may be a shoeprint left on the door the man kicked in, and he knew the stalker was not wearing gloves. With a little luck there would be recoverable fingerprints left behind._

_His struggling slowed as his world began to fade; darkness began to envelop him like a warm blanket. He wished he could talk to Nick one more time to tell him that none of this was his fault. He knew the older man would blame himself. He thought he heard the voice of an angel call his name from a distance like the childhood stories Nana Olaf used to tell him._

_

* * *

_

_As soon as Warrick pulled into the parking lot of Greg's apartment complex Nick noticed the Lincoln Continental parked in front of Greg's building. _

"_Damn it, that's the stalker's car," Nick observed as Warrick stopped the Denali behind the car. Nick jumped out of the car before it had completely stopped and pulled out his gun. _

"_Nick, wait!" Warrick quickly parked the car and hurried after his friend. _

_Nick ran up the staircase outside Greg's apartment taking the steps two at a time. He saw the opened door and sprinted inside. Warrick, followed close behind with his own gun drawn. _

_As they entered the apartment, Nick took in the tall burly man holding Greg off the floor by his neck. "Let him go," he yelled._

_Without looking behind him, the man spun around so Greg's back was to the CSIs and was being used as an unconscious shield. "He deserves to die," the man snarled. _

"_No John, you don't want to do this," Nick spoke with a much calmer tone than he felt. _

"_Listen man, we got your prints off the lockout box. We know you sabotaged Greg's car. Don't make it worse for you by adding murder on to it," Warrick said, gun aimed firmly at the man. _

"_It doesn't matter; I'm still wanted for my unsuccessful attempt to kill Amanda. If she would have died your friend wouldn't be in this predicament right now."_

"_Just let him go," Nick pleaded and tentatively stepped closer. "He's been through so much already. He doesn't deserve this," The man appeared to be unarmed save for his hands. Warrick was right beside him with his weapon ready. _

"_No, I won't go back to jail!" The man suddenly threw Greg's limp body at Nick and ran down the hall in the opposite direction._

_Warrick ran after John. He had never been in Greg's apartment before and had no idea where the man was going or if there was another way out of the apartment. The larger man ran into the last room at the end of the corridor that was obviously Greg's bedroom. A large bed, a small end table, and a large dresser took up most of the space in the room. There was only one large window with dark blue preventing the early morning light from seeping through. The dim glow emanating from the hallway was the only light illuminating the room. There was no way out other than the doorway he currently stood in and the two-story drop out the window. _

"_There's nowhere for you to go, it's over man," Warrick said calmly. _

_John shook his head. "I'm not going to jail over that slut and her boyfriend." He grabbed a pale blue ceramic lamp off the nightstand next to the bed and smashed it against the wall. The base of the lamp shattered upon impact, startling Warrick, but he held his grip firmly. John held the other end of the lamp out toward Warrick as if it was a knife. He stood staring at the shorter CSI, whose gun was aimed straight at him. _

"_Don't do it," Warrick warned the other man as he realized what he was planning. John wanted him to shoot and kill him to avoid jail. _

_Without saying a word, John started running across the short distance that separated them, straight at Warrick. After a moment of hesitation, Warrick fired his gun, hitting the man in the chest. His heart raced and his hands shook as he walked up to the man, crouched down, and placed two fingers on the man's neck. Upon feeling a pulse beneath his fingertips, Warrick released the breath he had not realized he'd been holding and removed his shirt to put pressure on the wound and minimize the blood flow. He then reached for his cell phone and immediately called dispatch to send two ambulances and then called Grissom to let him know what had happened.  
_

_

* * *

_

_Nick was barely ready when the crazed man threw Greg at him like a rag doll. He caught the younger man in his arms and dropped to his knees gently, preventing Greg's body from hitting the floor and causing further injuries. Nick placed his fingers on Greg's neck to check for a pulse, but felt nothing. _

"_No Greg, don't do this to me. You have to hold on," he pleaded as he gently laid Greg down and began CPR. Moments later that felt like a lifetime, he heard the sound of shattering glass followed by the loud unmistakable sound of a gunshot. _


End file.
